Conveying drum with lever segments used in the tobacco industry

ABSTRACT

A conveying drum used in the tobacco-processing industry. The conveying drum comprises a drum body having at least one seat defined therein, and a lever segment pivotably mounted inside each seat. The lever segment includes at least one receiving trough for accommodating rod-shaped articles of the tobacco industry. At least one suction bore is located in the lever segment and extends between the respective seat and the at least one receiving trough. The suction bore extends exclusively in a substantially radial outward direction.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of German Patent Application No. DE 10 2005 027 554.0, filed on Jun. 14, 2005, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. Each U.S. and foreign patent and patent application mention below is also incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a conveying drum in the tobacco-processing industry. The conveying drum has lever segments pivotably mounted to a drum body inside respective seats. The lever segments have receiving troughs for accommodating rod-shaped articles of the tobacco industry. Suction bores are associated with the receiving troughs. The present invention also relates to a machine used in the tobacco-processing industry, in particular, a filter tipping machine.

German Patent document DE-A-39 28 273 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,643) discloses a conveying device and/or a conveying drum having a reversible control means for the suction air. The control means can change the effective length of the suction channel rows transverse to the conveying direction.

European Patent document EP-A-1 466 535 discloses conveying drums used in the tobacco-processing industry. The drums include lever segments for accommodating articles of the tobacco industry.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to improve the conduction of air inside conveying drums that have movable lever segments comprising receiving troughs for accommodating rod-shaped articles of the tobacco industry.

According to one exemplary embodiment, the conveying drum has lever segments pivotably positioned inside respective seats in the drum body. The lever segments include receiving troughs for accommodating rod-shaped articles of the tobacco industry. The lever segments also include suction bores assigned to the receiving troughs. At least one suction bore of each lever segment is located between the seat and at least one receiving trough of the lever segment, so as to extend exclusively in a substantially radial outward direction.

The present invention is based on the idea that the lever segment itself does not have suction bores that are oriented parallel to the axis of rotation of the conveying drum and/or to the pivoting axis of the lever segment. As a result, there are no 90° bends in the suction bores and for the applied vacuum pressure in the lever segment itself. The suction bores, which are admitted with vacuum pressure, are consequently embodied without right angles, thereby avoiding 90° bends of the suction bores. Avoiding the 90° bends leads to reduced air resistance and thus to a reduction of the amount of suction air used.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the suction bores are connected at a shorter distance, and, in some circumstances, the shortest possible distance to the inside of the drum and/or to a vacuum source. Vacuum pressure is thus applied in an effective manner to the suction bores and the articles are held securely inside the receiving troughs on the conveying drum. In addition, the arrangement of the suction bores according to the invention results in a simplified design of the movable and/or moving lever segments and/or the small lever arms of a conveying drum.

Orienting the suction bores in the radial direction also reduces noise development, because 90° deflections in the lever segment are avoided. According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the suction bores are oriented exclusively in the radial outward direction, meaning they do not contain sections that are parallel to the axis of rotation of the conveying drum and/or to the pivoting axis of the lever segment.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the lever segments can have two receiving troughs for accommodating rod-shaped articles. Each suction bore of the lever segment is preferably embodied so as to extend in the radial direction, meaning without sections that are parallel to the axis of rotation.

According to an exemplary embodiment, at least one lever segment comprises a base body and a lever segment head resulting in a multipart lever segment embodied with several receiving troughs.

The lever segment head can be detachably connected to the base body, so that the lever segment head (which has the receiving troughs) is movable relative to the base body. As a result, precise adjustments on the conveying drum can be realized easily, for example, for a format change on a filter tipping machine.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the lever segment head also comprises a trough member and a segment base body, thus resulting in a multipart design for the lever segment head. The trough member together with the receiving troughs is adapted to accommodate rod-shaped articles of the tobacco industry. The trough member and the segment base body can be detachably connected, meaning the trough member and the segment base body are displaceable relative to each other. Following a corresponding positioning of the trough member on the segment base body, the trough member is secured in place for the operation of a filter tipping machine.

According to another exemplary embodiment, further improvement in the adjustability of the conveying drum can be achieved by using a detachable connection between the lever segment and a cam lever. As a result, it is easy to precisely adjust the location of the receiving troughs relative to the location at which rod-shaped articles are transferred from a different conveying drum to the conveying drum of the present invention.

The present invention also relates to a machine in the tobacco-processing industry, in particular a filter tipping machine, that includes a conveying drum according to the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be further understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, without restricting the general inventive idea, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings to which we refer for all details not expressly explained in the text, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-section through a portion of a conveying drum having pivoting lever segments according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b are cross-sectional views of a base body for a lever segment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 3 a and 3 b are additional cross-sectional views of a base body of a lever segment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The particulars shown herein are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the embodiment of the present invention only and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the present invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the present invention in more detail than is necessary for the fundamental understanding of the present invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the present invention may be embodied in practice.

In the following figures and description, identical or similar elements are referred to throughout with the same reference numbers and will not be introduced again.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view through an exemplary embodiment of a conveying drum 10, which is a component of a filter tipping machine FA (shown schematically). An example of a filter tipping machine of this type is described in detail in reference EP-A-1 466 535, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. We refer in particular to this document for details relating to a filter tipping machine.

Referring to FIG. 1, the inside of the conveying drum 10 includes a control member 12 having corresponding recesses for turning on/off the vacuum pressure to the suction bores located in the receiving troughs. The conveying drum 10 also includes an outer drum body 14 that is driven relative to the locally fixed control member 12 to rotate around an axis of rotation 16 in the direction of rotation D.

The drum body 14 comprises suction bores 18, which expand in the radial direction from the inside toward the outside of the conveying drum 10. The base body 24 of each lever segment 25 is inserted into a correspondingly designed round seat 22 in the expanded outer portion of the suction bore 18. As a result of the design of the seats 22 to complement the form and function of the circular portion of the base body 24, the lever segments 25 are able to pivot with respect to the drum 10. In addition, the suction bores 18 are sealed against the environment with the aid of the seats 22.

Each lever segment 25 includes a base body 24 with a lever segment head 26 arranged thereon. The lever segment head 26 itself is provided with two receiving troughs 27, 28 for accommodating rod-shaped articles of the tobacco industry to be transported with the aid of the conveying drum 10.

The lever segment head 26 can be positioned and/or secured in place, relative to the base body 24, in such a way that the lever segment head 26 is detachable connected to the base body 24. The lever segment head 26 can be secured on the base body 24 following the positioning and/or adjustment of the lever segment head 26. In addition, a support element 29 can be arranged on the outside of the lever segment head 26 and/or lever segment 25. The support element 29 can support a tipping paper section attached to the leading group of smoking articles in the receiving trough 27, so that the attached tipping paper section, which is provided with adhesive, does not come in contact with the top surface of the lever segment head 26.

FIG. 1 also shows an alternative embodiment of a lever segment with the reference number 125. The lever segment 125 differs from the other lever segments 25 in that the lever segment head 26 is divided once more and/or has a two-part design. The lever segment head 26 of the lever segment 125 includes a segment base body 126 which can be moved relative to the base body 24 and, following a corresponding adjustment, can be secured in place.

Arranged on the segment base body 126 is a trough member 127, which contains two receiving troughs 27, 28 for accommodating articles of the tobacco industry. The trough member 127 is detachably connected to the segment base body 126, so that only the trough member 127 and not the lever segments 25 must be replaced following a format change at the filter tipping machine FA. Thus, a quick adaptation of the lever segment 125 and/or the trough member 127 to a different format is possible.

FIGS. 2 a, 2 b and 3 a, 3 b show various sectional views through the base body 24 of a lever segment 25, as shown with the drawn-in sectional lines.

FIGS. 2 a and 3 a show respective views from the side along the sectional lines IIa-IIa and IIIa-IIIa, respectively, drawn in FIGS. 2 b and 3 b, respectively. The longitudinal section through the base body 24 in FIGS. 2 b and 3 b corresponds to the sectional lines IIb-IIb and IIIb-IIIb, respectively, drawn in FIGS. 2 a and 3 a, respectively.

The base body 24 comprises a shaft and can be pivoted around a pivoting axis 35. The base body 24 is positioned with the aid of bearings provided at both ends of the base body 24, such as ball bearings or roller bearings 36, 37, for example. For the pivoting of base body 24 and/or the lever segment 25, the base body 24 can be connected at one end with a lever arm 39. The lever arm 39 can include a roller bearing 40 on one end, which can be guided inside a cam 41 located on the conveying drum 10. The roller bearing 40 can rotate in the fixed cam 41 of the conveying drum 10. As a result, the base body 24 and/or the lever segment 25 are correspondingly pivoted around the pivoting axis 35 during the continuing movement and/or rotation of the conveying drum 10.

As shown in FIG. 2 b, the base body 24 can include suction bores 281 to 286, so that the receiving trough 28 of the lever segment 25 (compare FIG. 1) can be subjected to vacuum pressure to hold a rod-shaped article in the receptacle trough 28. The suction bores 281 to 286 are-continued through the lever segment head 26, as indicated with dashed lines.

FIG. 3 b shows that the base body 24 can include suction bores 271 to 276 for holding the rod-shaped articles inside the receiving trough 27 (compare FIG. 1).

As shown in the drawings, the suction bores in the base body 24 and in the lever segment head 26 extend in the radial outward direction, relative to the axis of rotation 16 for the conveying drum 19, shown in FIG. 1. Thus, there are no suction bore segments extending parallel to the pivoting axis 35 or to the axis of rotation 16 of the conveying drum 10.

The drawings in FIGS. 2 b and 3 b further show that the lever segment 25 can include six suction bores assigned to each receiving trough 27, 28, so that the articles are held in place securely with the aid of the vacuum pressure applied to the suction bores 271 to 276 and 281 to 286, respectively.

It is noted that the foregoing examples have been provided merely for the purpose of explanation and are in no way to be construed as limiting of the present invention. While the present invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment, it is understood that the words which have been used are words of description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Changes may be made, within the purview of the appended claims, as presently stated and as amended, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention in its aspects. Although the present invention has been described herein with reference to particular means, materials and embodiments, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed herein; rather, the present invention extends to all functionally equivalent structures, methods and uses., such as are within the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A conveying drum used in the tobacco-processing industry, comprising: a drum body having at least one seat defined therein; a lever segment pivotably mounted in each seat, the lever segment including at least one receiving trough for accommodating rod-shaped articles of the tobacco industry; and at least one suction bore located in the lever segment and extending between the respective seat and the at least one receiving trough, the suction bore extending exclusively in a substantially radial outward direction.
 2. The conveying drum of claim 1, wherein each lever segment comprises at least two receiving troughs.
 3. The conveying drum of claim 1, wherein each suction bore extends exclusively in a substantially radial outward direction.
 4. The conveying drum of claim 1, wherein the lever segment comprises a base body and a segment head.
 5. The conveying drum of claim 4, wherein the segment head is detachably connected to the base body.
 6. The conveying drum of claim 4, wherein the segment head comprises a trough member and a segment base body.
 7. The conveying drum of claim 6, wherein the trough member and the segment base body are detachably connected to one other.
 8. The conveying drum of claim 1, further comprising a cam lever detachably connected to the lever segment.
 9. A machine used in the tobacco-processing industry, comprising a conveying drum according to claim
 1. 10. The machine of claim 9, wherein the machine is a filter tipping machine. 